This is my sixth story. Maybe it's the last installment of my Lucky and Payment universe but who knows. I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! (F.Y.I) I hope you all enjoy the story!
The Complete Family
The first holiday with Laurel
"Peeta, can you change Laurel? I'm still pumping," Katniss calls out. It has been tough since we took Laurel back home. She's a month old and keeps me up all night, but I couldn't be happier. Katniss likes to pump so that I can feed Laurel sometimes when she's really tired. She spends all day with Laurel and takes her out as much as possible, but she needs her rest too. I can't always come home from the Bakery every day to help her, so this arrangement helps her relax too.
"Sure thing," I call out and get to Laurel's nursery. She's awake and is lying in her crib whimpering a little bit because she. "Ohh, hello my precious little girl." I grab her gently, making sure to hold her head and body. "You need to be changed before we go to Grandpa and Grandma's house." I change my beautiful daughter into a cute little dress for Thanksgiving and put her in the little carrier that doubles as her car seat. I get the bag ready, filled with extra clothes, diapers, wipes, blankets, and bottles just in case. "We're ready!"
"I'm coming," Katniss calls out. She still needs to wear some loose clothing because she still holds a little bit of her baby weight. She looks to be about four months pregnant, but the doctor says that she'll lose it soon. She comes down the stairs with a beautiful wrap around dress with leggings under and flats. "How do I look?" She comes to me and I can't keep my eyes off her.
"Maybe we should just stay home?" I suggest playfully but she slaps me in the arm.
"No, we are going to your parents for Thanksgiving," she says and kisses my cheek. "Let's put the little bug in the car and get the show on the road." We go outside and strap laurel in. "Are you sure she's in correctly?"
"I am positive Katniss," I reassure her. "She is secure in her little seat." She gets into the front seat and I follow her to drive to my parents' house.
"I look fat," Katniss says. She was hoping that the weight would go down sooner, but she still looks four months pregnant.
"Katniss, you just had a baby," I tell her. "I think you look fine." She rolls her eyes, and we find ourselves at my parents' house soon after.
I take Laurel in the carrier and walk to the house. Katniss rings the doorbell and I can hear my father coming. He opens the door with a huge smile on my face. "Look it's my youngest son and his beautiful wife and child."
"Hi Dad," I say and try to give him a hug with Laurel in my hand. He hugs Katniss and I put Laurel on the table before taking her out of the seat. "Sorry, she's sleeping right now." I gingerly place my daughter in my father's arms.
"Look at that beautiful girl," Dad says. "Looks just like her Mama, but she does have her Daddy's lips."
"Don't forget her eyes," Katniss responds as she helps out the other ladies in the kitchen. I sit with my Dad and brothers on the couch. Wheat's son, Aaron, is sitting on the floor playing with his toys with his younger cousin Nick. Laurel is the newest addition of grandchildren in the family, but not the last. Ally is expecting her second child next spring, so we're all waiting for the new one.
"Of course Peeta gets a girl," Rye says to me and slaps my shoulder. "I'm stuck with this crazy boy, but Peeta has a calm and quiet girl." My dad passes Laurel to Rye who plays with her little finger that is sticking out. Ever since she was born, Laurel would move around in her sleep. Somehow her little feet would stick out or her hands would be outside of the blanket.
"Let me see my niece," Wheat says and Rye places her into his welcoming arms. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you did good Peet." I roll my eyes at my brother's comment.
"Come on, you guys," I say. "I'm not a complete loser." Ever since I was little, I was always the loser child. I was chubbier, shorter, and less athletic than my brothers, until I started college. I started to care about the way I looked and took my health in consideration. I traded the cupcake for an apple, and got right on track.
"Leave your brother alone," Dad says. "His baby girl is just divine. You should be happy that your brother finally joined the Daddy club." Soon after my dad scolds my brothers, we are called for dinner.
"Katniss, do you want to feed Laurel, or do you want to wait until after?" I ask her.
"Is she asleep still?" she asks. I nod my head yes. "Well, I guess I'll feed her when she wakes up, it won't be long." We sit at the dinner table, for dinner.
"Happy Thanksgiving," my mother says happily. She always goes all out for these occasions, especially since she's from southern blood. She always had food on the table ready to be eaten.
"This looks amazing," Katniss says. "I think I should take lessons from you."
"Why thank you sweet pea," Mom responds. Their relationship has become much stronger since we've had Laurel. She's really let Katniss join the family. We eat the delicious dinner with the normal Mellark banter, when Laurel starts to cry.
"I guess it's time for me to feed her," Katniss says. "I'll be back soon." Katniss goes away to feed Laurel, and I follow her soon after. She's sitting on the couch feeding my daughter with a blanket draped over her shoulder. I can hear her hum a small song to Laurel to get her to calm down.
"Hello," I say to Katniss.
"What are you doing here? You should be sitting with your family," she says to me.
"It wouldn't be family without you two in there," I tell her and she smiles.
"Well, we'll be there in a few," Katniss says. "I don't want them to worry." I take this as a sign to leave, and I do. Not so long after, Katniss comes back in with Laurel wide awake.
"We're back," she says and burps our daughter. She lets out a small little burp and I kiss my baby's forehead.
"Come to Daddy," I say holding my hands out to take my daughter from her mother. Katniss places Laurel in my arm. "Look who's awake sleepyhead." I kiss her forehead and her little stomach pretending to eat it.
"Oh let me see that beautiful granddaughter of mine," my mom says. "Pass me the little sweet pea." I get up and place my daughter in her arms. "Oh she's just so darling Peeta. Katniss you create such beautiful babies."
"Thank you," Katniss says.
"Barley, could you get the blanket?" she asks. My father gets up and grabs a small pink blanket. It looks like something that my mom knitted, but she hasn't made anything since I was little. "I thought it was time to grab my needles out again. She shows the little blanket she made to Katniss. It's pink and small, with Laurel written in purple.
"Oh that is too kind of you Mallorie," Katniss says while holding the blanket. "You didn't have to do that."
"Oh, but I wanted to," Mom replies. "This is the first girl Mellark in 4 generations. Little Laurel is special." Katniss wraps the blanket around Laurel and my mom holds her with so much pride.
Dinner ends soon after, it's getting late and Katniss needs to put Laurel to sleep. They are all reluctant to see us leave, but we insist that little Laurel needs to get home.
"I'll see you soon Mom," I say to her and give her a hug.
"You better," she says and places a huge kiss on my cheek. "I need to see my beautiful granddaughter. By sweetheart." Laurel lies awake in her carrier, but we know that she'll be asleep soon.
"Bye Dad," I tell my father and he gives me a big huge hug.
"Don't be a stranger son," he says. Katniss says goodbye to my parents too, and insists that she'll host the next thanksgiving.
An unexpected meeting
"Can you help me put this on?" I ask Katniss. I've always had trouble putting on the baby carrier. It lets me hold Laurel on my chest, so that she can stay close to both Katniss and I. We have a stroller, but it's more reassuring to have her close to me.
"Sure Daddy," Katniss says. She puts the freshly bathed Laurel in the little pouch and straps it around my back. Even though we are just going to go grocery shopping, Katniss still looks beautiful in her old UCSD sweatshirt and her yoga pants.
We enjoy walking to the stores, especially the ones nearby. We walk hand in hand to the organic foods store. Katniss grabs a cart and we walk with Laurel around the store to get the stuff we need.
"Okay we need whole milk, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, squash, bananas, apple sauce and carrots for Laurel and we also need some cheese and pasta for us," Katniss says. She takes Laurel out of the carrier. She likes to show Laurel what she's eating, hoping that she will understand it. "Hello Miss Laurel." My daughter laughs at her mother talking to her. We start to go around the store to get the foods we need, when I am met with an old friend.
"Peeta Mellark is that you?" I hear my ex-girlfriend Glimmer say. Her high pitched voice is recognizable from anywhere. I turn to see her and she looks a lot more different than what I remember. Her hair is a lighter blonde now, and I can tell that she got some work done on her face. She walks over to Katniss and I.
"Hi Glimmer," I say. "It's always a pleasure to see you. This is my wife Katniss and our daughter, Laurel." I grab Laurel from Katniss' arms and hold her on my right arm.
"Oh you have a beautiful daughter," Glimmer says and she's right. Laurel is the most beautiful girl in the world, with her blue eyes and soft fuzzy brown hair. "And you must be his wife."
"Hi nice to meet you," Katniss says. I can tell that she doesn't like Glimmer at all. Katniss makes a face when she meets someone that she doesn't like.
"I never knew that Peeta Mellark settled down," Glimmer says. "I always thought that it would be you and me." I can sense the jealousy radiating from Katniss and I instinctively put my arm around her.
"Well I did and I'm so happy," I tell her trying to reassure Katniss.
"Where did you two meet?" Glimmer asks.
"Actually we met at the bakery," I tell her. "Katniss came in and I asked her out after a few times and now we have a family." I rub Laurel's head with my free hand.
"That's just lovely," Glimmer says. "I just moved here for a job. I now work at a small studio." She flips her blonde hair and gives Katniss one of her famous duck lip faces.
"What is your profession?" Katniss asks. I can tell that there will be a "your horse is bigger than my horse" competitions.
"I'm a designer," Glimmer answers. "I make clothes for some high end people. I'm not really out there yet, but, I hope to be. What do you do?"
"I'm a botanist," Katniss responds. "I am trying to form a new pesticide that is safe to use because of the ground water issue. I also work with the environmental sciences to help stop pollution affect the plants we eat, so that's why we walked here today. But right now, I'm on leave because I just had a baby so I want to be with her as much as I can."
"I understand," Glimmer says. "I remember telling Peeta that I wanted 3 children. He said he'd give me that if I wanted it. He's such a sweetheart." I was hoping she wouldn't say anything about that. Katniss' grip on the shopping cart becomes tighter, and I can see her knuckles become white.
"Is that so Peeta?" Katniss asks with her angry but happy voice. I laugh dumbly before I can respond.
"It was a while ago…" I trail off before Glimmer cuts me off.
"It was like five years ago Peeta," Glimmer said while slapping my arm. Katniss rolls her eyes and keeps her mouth shut.
"Well it was really nice to see you Glimmer," I say with a fake smile plastered on my face. "I'll see you soon."
"Oh same here," Glimmer says. "Nice to meet you Katniss." She gives Katniss a hug and Katniss hugs her back.
"You too," Katniss says in her fake happy voice and she leaves. Katniss starts to walk faster with the cart, getting the foods she needs.
"Katniss is there something wrong?" I ask her. She stops the cart abruptly to get the sweet potatoes, Laurel's favorite. We don't want to give Laurel baby food that is jarred, so Katniss makes her own.
"No Peeta," she says sarcastically. "There is nothing wrong with seeing your ex-girlfriend at the store when we're getting food for our child, and her flirting with you right in front of them!" She's yelling but it's in a low whisper.
"What am I supposed to do?" I ask her. "She just started talking to me and I didn't want to be rude." She gives me one of her famous scowls and rolls her eyes.
"Well you could've said that you were busy or that you needed to shop," Katniss says. "I didn't want to hear how she wanted three kids and how you were going to oblige happily." She tried to walk faster with the cart, but she's small, so I catch up with her pretty quickly.
"Katniss that was five years ago okay?" I try to console with her. "I was twenty three and I thought that I would be with Glimmer forever. I was stupid and young okay." She doesn't seem to be buying it.
"Well I met you when I was twenty two Peeta!" she quietly yells. "Now I'm here at twenty six with your baby. I was at that age not so long ago Peeta. Don't you dare tell me that." I guess she has a point. She walks fast, but I stop her.
"Okay you're right Katniss," I say. I just want the fight to be over. "Okay I was stupid and I should've been more mature about it." I kiss her and she rolls her eyes and sighs.
"I guess I was a little jealous…" she says and I laugh.
"Did you see your face, you were so red," I laugh and she slaps my arm.
"Shut up," she says and we continue to walk around the store grabbing the groceries we need.
Her first steps
"Come on Laurel, you can do it!" I yell cheering for my daughter who is about to take her first steps. "Come to Daddy."
"Peeta I'm filming," Katniss says with her camera ready.
"Mama," Laurel says. She's been saying some words, her first one was Mama. She stands up and starts toddling towards me.
"Come here baby girl," I say and she's walking clumsily towards me. Her chubby little legs carry her three steps and to me where she falls on my knees. I lift her up happily. "Good job baby girl!"
"Good job Laurel!" Katniss says and joins the group hug.
A few days later
Today is a slow day at the bakery. The rush has already ended and it's just time to make the bread with my dad and my brother. I wish that I could go home right now to see my baby girl and my beautiful wife.
I start to walk into the back when the door opens again. I walk to the front counter and I see my two lovely ladies. Katniss is holding Laurel with her bag over her shoulder. She's wearing some shorts and a t-shirt because of the warm weather and Laurel is in a little flowery outfit that is purple and pink.
"Look over there," Katniss says and Laurel turns her head to look at me. "Who's that?"
I jump the front counter to pick up my baby girl. I take her out of Katniss' arms and lift her up high and kiss her little belly. "Hi there," I say to her and kiss her face. "Hi there you little cutie."
"We thought that we should go see Daddy today," Katniss says and I kiss her.
"Come one baby girl," I say and I carry Laurel with one arm and hold Katniss' hand with the other. "Dad we have a surprise today."
"What surprise?" my dad asks and he sees my daughter. "Oh my beautiful Laurel. What are you doing here today?"
"We came by to say hi," Katniss says. "We might as well see Daddy and Grandpa and Uncle Rye if he's here?" Katniss puts down the baby bag and sits on a stool in the back. "How's the business so far?"
"Boring," I say and play with my daughter. "Dad look at what she can do now." I put Laurel down and she walks slowly to me.
"Oh my goodness that little girl is so amazing," my dad says. "She's getting so big."
"I know," Katniss says. "I want my little baby back she says and pretends to bite Laurel's chubby cheeks which makes her laugh. Katniss grabs Laurel and starts to get ready to go.
"Well we're going to the park," Katniss says. "See you guys soon." She kisses me and I kiss Laurel.
"Make sure that the boys won't get to her," I say. "She's a charmer." Katniss laughs before speaking.
"Okay Peeta," she says sarcastically and heads out the door.
First Birthday
"Peeta are you sure everything looks fine?" Katniss asks. Laurel's first birthday has to be perfect. She invited all of our friends and family, including her mother and the Odair's.
"Everything will be perfect Katniss," I reassure her. "The food is great, the cake is great, the birthday girl is great. Wait, where is the birthday girl?" I look around the living room trying to fund my daughter.
"Peeka boo," I hear her say and she pop out from behind the couch. She walks clumsily to me saying, "Dada, Dada." I pick her up with open arms and wait for the guests to come. Well, of course, Katniss mom is already here, because she's staying with us, then my family comes, a few of Katniss' college friends, some of my college friends, and finally the Odairs come with Kai and their daughter who also is one, Leilani.
"Someone said Peeta's making the cake," Finnick says. "And I have to come eat it." He puts the kids in the center and watches them play together.
"It's always good to see you Finnick and Annie," I say.
"Oh you are so sweet Peeta," Annie says. "Where's Katniss? I need to tell her something that Kai said that made me almost pee in my pants." Annie is a super sweet girl who has become close friends with Katniss.
"She's over there with her mother," I say and Annie leaves us.
"Finnick, how's everything?" I ask him.
"Great," he says. "Kai is in preschool now and he loves it. Lani is walking all over the place so we have to put the little gates in now." Finnick and I have become friends through our daughters and the business.
"Same here," I say. "She likes to hide and play peeka boo now." Finnick and I talk about the business and swimming and our daughters, that now we have to blow out the candles for Laurel.
"Okay here's the big girl now," Katniss says and places her in the high chair. She lights the candle and puts it in front of her.
"Happy birthday to you…." We all start to sing, and Laurel and Katniss blow out the candle. "Yayyyyy!" We all say and she laughs.
I place a piece of the cake in front of Laurel and she puts it in her hair and all over her face and fingers. "That's my girl," I say proudly and kiss her cheek covered in chocolate frosting.
Another Surprise
"Daddy look what I drawred in school," Laurel says to me. She shows me a picture of me, Katniss, and her. "It's you and Mama and me right there."
"I'm so proud of you Laurel," I say to her and lift her. "You are my special little girl. I nuzzle her nose against mine when Katniss comes out of the bathroom. She looks a little scared, and on edge. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah," she says quickly. "Everything is just fine." Laurel squirms out of my arms to show her mama the picture she drew.
"Look at my pic-ture," Laurel says and shows Katniss. "It's all of us."
"No not all of us," Katniss says. She whispers something into her ear and Laurel smiles and runs to her room to get crayons.
"What do you mean?" I ask her.
"Nothing, she just forgot, you know, your family, and my mom and sister," Katniss says to me. She looks really jumpy, but I'm not going to say anything. Laurel comes back with her crayons and starts to draw on her small table that got for her artwork. She works on it for a few minutes and it's finished.
"It's my new drawring," she says and shows me. It looks the same, except that there's a small body next to Katniss.
"Who's that?" I ask her. Katniss is in the kitchen washing some fruits for Laurel to eat.
"That's my baby brother you silly goose," Laurel says. I look at her in shock.
"But you don't have a baby brother," I tell her. Just as I finish, Katniss comes to me with the fruit in one hand and a picture in the other.
"She does now," Katniss says and places the picture in my hand. It's a sonogram and it says Baby Mellark #2 on it.
"Are you serious?" I ask.
"No that picture is a fake," Katniss says sarcastically. "Of course I'm serious." I kiss her so passionately and Laurel laughs.
"You are going to be a big sister," I say to her and she giggles when I pick her up.
Katniss' pregnancy went much smoother than Laurel's. She already knew what was going to happen, so she wasn't as scared. But we did know one thing: that this baby was going to be much bigger than Laurel. The doctor thought that she was carrying twins when we went back at about five months, but she promised us that there was only one in there. We decided that we didn't want to know if it was a boy or girl, so we chose names that would fit for either. If it was a boy, we still kept the name up of Lark Rye Mellark, but if it was another girl we thought Elodie Linnaeah Mellark would be a great choice.
As the months came closer to her due date, we had to tell Laurel that the new baby will need a lot of attention and that we'll still love her. She seemed to understand and couldn't wait to help out her mom with the clothes and bibs.
Katniss had to have an induced labor, because the little sucker didn't want come out of its temporary home. She was put on Pitocin, the drug that starts the labor and it worked. They popped her water again and she went into a natural birth without any medication. I was there for all 15 hours, less that Laurel's birth, and waited for my new child. Katniss is crying almost, waiting for that baby to come out.
"Just get it out already!" she screams. "Peeta get it out!" I try to soothe her but it's not working.
"I can't do that for you, but you can," I tell her. "You need to do this Katniss. Just think of Laurel's face when you bring him or her home." Katniss gives one final push and I hear the screams of my new baby.
"He has a healthy pair of lungs," the doctor says and holds him up. "It's your new son."
"I have a son," I say happily. "I have a son to carry on the name and the bakery." I kiss Katniss who is resting on the bed.
"We have to give Katniss a little bit of this sleeping starter," the nurse tells me. "She needs to rest especially since she was induced." They let her see our son and name him, but right after they put her to sleep.
Lark Rye Mellark was born on September 8th. He was 10 pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches, a very big baby. He has soft blonde hair and piercing gray eyes like her mom, but aside from that, he looks just like me. We decided to keep Lark in our room, so that Katniss can wake up with him in the room.
The door to our room opens, and we see the whole family pour in. "Let me see the new grandbaby," my mom says. "Oh my goodness, it's a boy Barley."
"Well, I guess we now have another Mellark to run the business," my dad says and watches my son over my shoulder.
"This is Lark Rye Mellark," I tell them. "Ten pounds 3 ounces and 21 inches long." Katniss' mother comes in with her sister.
"Oh look at that," her mom says. "Lark would be so proud to see his grandson." She gives my son a little kiss on the nose and he yawns. "Such a handsome boy. He looks just like his father."
"Thank you," I say. All of a sudden, I see my baby girl walk inside.
"Daddy?" she asks. I sit down on a chair and tell her to come to me. "Is that my brother?"
"Laurel this is Lark, your brother," I tell her calmly. She strokes his face with her hand and grabs his little hand that poked up from the blanket.
"He likes me," Laurel says and lets her brother hold my hand. "I can't wait till I can play with him."
"Well right now, he's too little to play," I tell her. "When he gets older, you can play with him as much as you like."
"Okay," Laurel says.
The complete family
I watch my two kids play together. They're running around squealing in delight as one catches the other. "Mama come!" my youngest says. Lark was such a happy baby. He was always smiling and giggling. Laurel was the good sister playing with her younger brother carefully and playing games with him.
"I'm coming Larky," Katniss says. She still looks as beautiful as when I first met her. She still rolls her eyes at me and gives me dirty looks, but I know that that's only skin deep.
"Come Daddy," Lark says as he runs away. I get up to chase him too. Katniss and Laurel against Lark and I. I feel that this is not fair at all. You can barely hear their steps when they move around, but you can hear Lark from a mile away.
"Okay I know where they are," I tell Lark. "Follow me." I grab his hand in an attempt of a surprise attack, but they're not there.
"Where Laurie?" Rye asks. His gray eyes show confusion.
"I don't know little man," I tell him truthfully. As we turn around, we are tagged by the sneaky girls.
"You're it," Laurel says.
"You sneaky girls," I tell them and I tickle Laurel, who is just as ticklish as her mother. All of a sudden, I hear a hug scream and crying coming from my left side.
"Ahhhhhh!" is al Katniss and I hear.
"Aww Larky," Katniss says and lifts him up. "It's okay you win, you win." My son knows how to use the guilt trick on my wife, just as I did when I was little and lost a game.
"I win?" he asks Katniss.
"Yes you win," she says. "Mama says that you win." He starts to squirm in her arms and she puts him down.
"I win," he says and laughs. Of course my boy would only be happy if he wins. "I win, I win, I win!"
"That's not fair Mama," Laurel says. "We won fair and square."
"Just let your brother indulge in it a little bit okay?" Katniss says and she agrees reluctantly.
I watch my family walk home in front of me. My wife carrying a two-year-old and holding hands with a kindergartener. "Daddy are you coming?" my wife asks. Her eyes still piercing into mine as she stops.
"Of course I'm coming," I say and catch up with my beautiful family.
